1
2
3
I haven't been to that site yet. I find everything I need here. Heck, I bought my car right around the time your "Trash to Treasure" article came out. Then the bodywork article came out. All of this stuff seemed to coincide with my own project!
I agree with the general consensus though. What is the point of being on a forum if the ONLY response you ever give people is "do a search" and if you don't allow them to interact with each other?
I use to check rx7club once in a while. The only response you ever got on that forum was DO A SEARCH. The fact that the search function sucked and pulled up 200 useless threads to wade through was irrelevant. They still wouldn't answer a question if it was discussed ten years ago in a thread that can only be found in the archives if you enter the exact phrase a ten year old posted. Uhhh that used to drive me nuts. I don't post much there anymore unless I really want to piss someone off. It doesn't take much on that board.
oops double post cause I am a idiot.
confuZion3 wrote:I agree with the general consensus though. What is the point of being on a forum if the ONLY response you ever give people is "do a search" and if you don't allow them to interact with each other?
To get their post count up, so they fool others into thinking they know what they're talking about.......
That constant 'do a search' thing turns me off to a lot of messageboards. It guarantees that people will make one or two posts and then leave.
Although, If we didn't allow 'duplicate' threads, we'd just have one thread that just said, "Miatae30BerkeleyP71Locost" and we'd get a lot more work done. 
Toyman01 wrote:I use to check rx7club once in a while. The only response you ever got on that forum was DO A SEARCH. The fact that the search function sucked and pulled up 200 useless threads to wade through was irrelevant. They still wouldn't answer a question if it was discussed ten years ago in a thread that can only be found in the archives if you enter the exact phrase a ten year old posted. Uhhh that used to drive me nuts. I don't post much there anymore unless I really want to piss someone off. It doesn't take much on that board.
They prune the board a lot too, so most of the time all you get from searching is 200 threads that all say " wtf do a search n00b", since the actual thread with the answer was deleted long ago. 
Dirty secret of ALL message boards: the search sucks. Always. There are a lot of reasons I won't bore you with, but I've yet to see a board with a built-in search engine that rose above marginal, at best.
You really have to use Google's advanced search to find a lot of good stuff on most forums. Search is very difficult to get right or so Baxter told me.
Tim Baxter wrote:Dirty secret of ALL message boards: the SEARCHER sucks. Always.
Change that. People that are familiar with programming usually have better success with most forum search engines. You can't expect to plug in a single five letter word and have the data you're looking for handed to you. Although, when they don't catalog the short words (three letter) or identifying phrases (NA, NB) it makes it more difficult.
dupe
Well, that's true, Modernbeat, but there's more to it.
How forums weight results (or don't), index posts (or don't), trim for performance (or don't)... all of these things and more all play a part.
There's a reason Google rules the world.
Tim Baxter wrote:Well, that's true, Modernbeat, but there's more to it.
How forums weight results (or don't), index posts (or don't), trim for performance (or don't)... all of these things and more all play a part.
There's a reason Google rules the world.
Cause they're FAST!
I've been known to tell people to do a search, it can be tough to find things that way, though I've usually had success. It's the reason I have hardly any posts on make-specific forums like Bimmerforums and F150online, I can usually find an answer to most questions with a search.
Finding the balance between strictness and laxity when running a web forum is tough, and it depends very much on the users and what they want/expect out of a board. I spent 6 years on Corner-Carvers, so I'm used to pretty tight standards when it comes to grammar, not having multiple threads on one topic, etc. I'll admit that I'm still getting used to some of that stuff on this board, but it's a different group, more laid-back, which is kind of what I was looking for anyhow, so I'll deal with it.
Anyhow, web forums are like communities, and every one has it's characteristics, rules, and quirks. There are plenty of them around, so find the ones you like and ignore the rest.
I can has points....or cookies?
David S. Wallens wrote:And that's why anyone replying to a question on our site with "do a search" will be fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun.
Is there anything that futurama cant do?
Edit- Darn. read the rest of the thread... missed out on showing everyone how much of a geek i am...
or....
Anyone know who said it?
The superiority of GRM over Miata.net has already been discussed ad-nauseum.
Do a search.
I use Internet Explorer's built in feature for searching locostusa.com Its pretty easy; click on the find more providers and follow the instructions to make your own. Its nice for quickly searching a specific CL too.
Salanis wrote:The superiority of GRM over Miata.net has already been discussed ad-nauseum.
Do a search.
Hope you have some SPF one billion....
man, i love this forum so much more than any other! If you go on vwvortex and repost something by accident, hold on to your ass because it will be reamed!! Im sorry i dont live for Volkswagens 24 hours a day, i also like to eat, go to the bathroom, pick my nose, work, listen to my girlfriend complain - in no particular order... this site is so much more laid back and more fun to talk on!
I'm having that problem with the MX6 forums, but they're generally good natured about it.
I'm beginning to think that the search feature on that board sucks, though, because complete answers are almost never given in the first place.
The OP's experience is just proof that no good deed goes unpunished.
X a gazillon on GRM being the standard by which others are measured.
I hang out at 311s.org and there are 3 or 4 people there that feel it necessary to tell everyone to do a search, every time. The strange part is one of those guys hangs out here also.....
I usually try to search on Bimmerfourms simply because it's the fastest way to get an answer. But when I do a search for "replace HVAC bulbs on Z3", for example, I almost always get a detailed write-up on how to do it (complete with pictures) on an M Roadster. Um, they are different cars. Completely different in many respects. But they don't yell at you for asking (usually), so I end up making a thread.
Tim Baxter wrote:Dirty secret of ALL message boards: the search sucks. Always. There are a lot of reasons I won't bore you with, but I've yet to see a board with a built-in search engine that rose above marginal, at best.
I dunno about that... Maybe I am exceptionally good at searching, but I almost always find what I am looking for on most forums...
I have to admit, that on other forums I have been known to bark the "Search!" mantra... But really when you look at some of the larger forums its simply a different ballgame then here. One forum I am thinking of in particular has hours on hours of work done to compile articles on most of the basic info you could want, forums laid out for each section and stickies at the top of each forum leading you to most of the answers you could be looking for. With so much time and effort donated by willing members its incredibly rude to just show up and ask for everything handed to you because you don't feel like poking around. This forum is mostly adults who put sometime into research, and come with at least fairly intelligent questions... Look at your typical 240sx forum and its nothing but 16 year old kids wanting to know where they can buy an SR for under $400. You can only answer the same question nicely so many times before you just tell them to look it up themselves (especially when look it up only means reading the clearly marked thread at the top of the forum).
I think the real reason everyone is so nice here is because its so easy to be nice here. Between the fact that the board covers such a range of cars, making it harder to post over and over on the same thing, and the fact that people here aren't the stereotypical 16 year old planning out the build he is neither smart or rich enough to afford there isn't a whole lot to complain about, so we don't.
RedS13Coupe wrote:I think the real reason everyone is so nice here is because its so easy to be nice here. Between the fact that the board covers such a range of cars, making it harder to post over and over on the same thing, and the fact that people here aren't the stereotypical 16 year old planning out the build he is neither smart or rich enough to afford there isn't a whole lot to complain about, so we don't.
The real difference is that the 16 year old who is neither smart or rich enough would be welcomed and encouraged here. He'd be offered all kinds of help. He'd learn how to do it himself on the cheap and he'd become one of us.
